Virgil Miller Newton

Our teenage “druggies” are habituated to drugs rather than addicted. While beer and other alcoholic beverages are preferred drugs, kids have simply not used alcohol long enough to become addicted. The other drug of preference – marijuana – is not addictive.

Drug-use is a terminal disease.

If a child has an older sibling involved in an addiction, there is a 90 percent chance that he or she will get involved too.

Adolescence in my growing up period was truly “Happy Days,” the title of a TV show connotating the quality of this life period.

These differences involve a tendency for more males to be at one end of the continuum on a specific cognitive ability, while the majority of females tend to be toward the other end of the continuum on the same ability, with some overlap between the two groups.

Four out of five teenagers I talked with did not get “high” until the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh time that they tried alcohol and/pr pot.

Our own unresolved authority problems from our youth sometimes get transferred to our youthful patients, because we are still "covert adolescent rebels." In subtle ways, we encourage the adolescent patient to rebel towards parents, school authorities, and society in general.

If his/her siblings and parents are not treated and he/she is strong enough to continue the recovery, a sibling will take up the “druggie” role.

Finally, law enforcement needs to increase the consequences for kids found intoxicated or in possession of drugs. The current slap on the wrist leaves kids with the idea "Cops are cool. When they take our drugs they are going to use them to get high. They are really helping us avoid the silly law.

As the therapeutic relationship is established and progress occurs in problem areas, the therapist can "lead" and "push" the adolescent toward abstract reasoning skill.

Second, I use inference from technical studies and theories in order to provide practical information for therapists. Those thoughts are several steps removed from scientific validity.

A certain group of adolescents evidence clear “druggie” behavior and attributes some time before they actually begin drug use.

It was evident that the treatment program’s building was a place where miracles happen.

Second, the only proven technique for treatment for chemically dependent people involves use of a spiritual program of self-change.

Careful listening to current country and western and rock music with the help of an interpreter for coded phrases shows that young people are hearing a constant stream of messages about getting high, feeling good, going on trips, and using drugs of all kinds with all methods.